“I feel like all the things that I've gone through in my life since the first (film) -- having kids, starting a company, the company being successful, I'm married, I have friends now,” she said. “I was working so much I didn't really even have real friendships the way that I do now. And I just have so much that's so important to me that I love. And it allows me when I'm working, when I'm acting to -- really be free and take risks and go to that next level.”

And another thing that was different this time around? Alba had a choreographer to help her prepare to reprise her role as Nancy Callahan, an exotic dancer.

“I'm not that comfortable -- I'm not a dancer,” Alba said, laughing. “And I'm not that comfortable on a stage, so I wanted to work with someone to help me fake it.”

“It's all in black and white … and in the theater it's in 3D. And not everything's in 3D, just special certain things are in 3D. So you feel like you're in this insane world. And it is beautiful,” she said.

Alba, who earned die-hard fans for her roles on projects including “Dark Angel,” “Fantastic Four,” and “Honey” – in which she played a dancer – has also made a name for herself as an entrepreneur.

Concerned about the dangers of toxic chemicals in household products, Alba teamed up with a partner to create Honest Company, a mail-order business offering products with an “intense focus on quality, product innovations, health & safety, and affordability,” according to the company’s website.